Guest Kirsteen Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Hi there, I'll be heading off to take a couple of epidemiology courses at Johns Hopkins next week. Although I'll be going to visit the epidemiology facilities, this is also one of the medical schools that I have applied to this year, and the first time that I'll have visited the campus. So my question is, being a big bit of a JH neophyte, has anyone around these parts visited the JH campus? If so, can you recommend any highlights? I'd love to visit the medical school facilities, but haven't had much time recently to do any sniffing around for resources, and although I'll do some surfing to see what I can turn up before the voyage, word of mouth is often a great wee vehicle for good tips. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 I've never been to JHU but from what I've heard it's in a really @#%$ area. I heard a couple people were shot right in front of the medical center last year. But nevertheless, it's a great medical school with a distinguished tradition of training physicians and scientists at the top of their fields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Are your courses going to be at the medical campus, then? The campus for the rest of the school is in a completely different part of town. It's really pretty, though. All the buildings match. They even built the library to extend below ground instead of above it so that it wouldn't tower over the rest of the campus The weather at this time of year is not particularly nice, though. It gets VERY hot and muggy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 Yags guys, that sounds a little scary! It's interesting, since on the JH website it is noted that every attempt has been made to make sure that the student experience is a safe one, etc. I guess there was some good reasoning behind that advert. I'm not really sure where the classes will be held. What I do know is that there is a shuttle between the student residences and the classes, each day. Thanks for the heads up, I think! :rolleyes Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrainDrain Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 Kirsteen, JHU med is one of the best schools in the US but the area around the med center is not great (drug dealers, hookers, you name it). The School of Public Health is also nearby. Baltimore however, has been ungoing many changes for the better, especially around the inner harbor which is minutes away from JHU med. I stayed with a student host in Little Italy when I was interviewing and it was alright. Good luck with your JHU apps..it is REALLY hard to get in if you are a non-US citizen (if I remember, only 2 or 3 in the past few years). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 Hi there BrainDrain, I appreciate your comments--thank you. I'll actually be staying right down at the inner harbour, so it's good to know that JHU's medical and public health facilities are nearby. (Normally I'm a little more on top of things at the last minute, than this, but I've been running about like a bit of a madwoman recently, so I appreciate your help!) I have applied to their MD/PhD program, so fingers crossed! I hope all is going well with you. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dogeatdog12 Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 I am a permanent resident of the US. do my chances increase? if so, what sort of GPA, MCAT is usually needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 Hi there dogeatdog12, Your chances do increase, I believe, if you apply to state schools within your home or resident state. You'll have to check the individual schools' requirements though, to find out which those may be, and that goes for GPA and MCAT scores as well. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted July 1, 2003 Report Share Posted July 1, 2003 Toto, we're not in TO anymore... Well guys, the ride home on the shuttle between Johns Hopkins Medical Centre and the Homewood campus, north of the city, was quite the eye opener this eve. We took a route within the city that I hadn't yet explored and on part of it, we approached a row of people holding and waving signs in protest. The apparent socialist in me simply figured it to be a picket line protesting wage cuts, etc.; however as we neared the energetic row, it certainly was a little different than anything I've seen outside of film or news. The building that these people were protesting outside turned out to be a very large correctional institution within Baltimore, that apparently houses death row inmates, and these folks were protesting the death penalty. It certainly sent a few shivers down the timbers to see this and really helped to wedge open the eyes to the reality that, although we're the largest neighbour of the United States, there certainly remain some more things that we can take for granted that wildly differ. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest premed81 Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 Hey Kirsteen, I was curious to know about the potential financing since you applied to JH medical school this year. I recently emailed the school in regards to non-US citizen applicants. They were very informative in their response, but one thing they said sort of caught me off guard. They said that non-US students would have to deposit about $200 000 in an escrow account from which medical school fees and tuition will be withdrawn. I'm curious to know how does anyone (average socioeconomic class) have $200 000 to deposit? So I was just wondering have you considered that and what would be your plan if you got accepted? Best of luck. Bye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 I believe Kirsteen applied to their MD/PhD program, which is an MSTP program which means all her tuition and fees are paid for should she be accepted. She would also get a 20000 stipend. Otherwise you have to be pretty rich to attend JHU. (Cornell is another school like this. Just to let you know, most schools are NOT like this.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 Actually, only Americans are eligible for MSTP funding, as I understand it. MSTP ("Medical Scientist Training Program") is just a special name for a large number of MD/PhD spots across the US that (1) indicate that the program has fulfilled certain criteria and (2) are funded by the US government for US citizens. These seem to be the American equivalent to the CIHR studentships that Canadian students are eligible for here. Canadians and other international students are eligible for funded spots only if the school provides scholarships for those students. This SDN thread lists these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrainDrain Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 I know two Canadians in the WashU MSTP program. They have full tuition paid for and a $20K stipend on top of that...which is a pretty good deal. Whether this is federal money or scholarship from the school, I don't really know. It doesn't matter really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 They're in the MD/PhD program or the MSTP program? I stand corrected if they are actually MSTP students, but a number of people on SDN have claimed that MSTP funding is only open to Americans... It does indeed matter for those in the application process, because it's easy to get a list of what schools have MSTP funded spots, but harder to figure out what schools will give scholarships at the MSTP funding level to international students. Plus, there are a large number of MSTP spaces but a relatively small number of funded spots outside of MSTP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrainDrain Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 My friends at WashU use "MD/PhD" and "MSTP" interchangeably so I always presumed they were the same. Maybe not so at other schools. But in your SDN link, WashU is known for accepting many foreign students into the MSTP program, and the amount of funding is equal regardless of citizenship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 Hi there premed81, Indeed, as quite a few have pointed out above, many schools will not provide funding for Canadians who are admitted to US MD/PhD (or MSTP) programs. However, some will. Just as you pointed out, some go as far as wishing to see a lot of funds sitting safely in a bank account. These are issues that I considered fully before taking the plunge and making the investment of applying to a broad spectrum of US schools. Suffice to say, I'm not your traditional MD/PhD, nor MD applicant--which comes with some unique advantages (and disadvantages!). I was out of academic circles and within the taxpaying workforce for quite a while and have a few other resources at hand that will help to ease the worry if and when I have the good fortune of being admitted. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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